Three pictures in one hour. Can you do it?

Here’s the challenge – take ONLY three pictures in one hour – No deletes & no post-processing.

Today, the challenge was simple – at least with the rules anyway. You can only take three photos in one hour, you’re not allowed to delete, post process or even retake the photo. This meant you had to really think hard about the subject, the composition, all the camera settings combined and…. get it right, first time.

And for your info – all images are shot straight-out-of-camera.

Picture one

As my first image I wasn’t sure what to shoot, or when I should take my first image. This was easily solved however, when I wandered to the riverside and saw this beautiful light bouncing off the water. I took my time to find the right angle and also noticed this small bird sitting near the edge nearby. With this, I shuffled along on my knees (was definitely worth it) to incorporate him/her into the top left third of the image.

Picture two

This shot I couldn’t resist, the car belongs to a colleague of mine (*cough* Marc’s) and for me, it captures that humorous moment when you know you should re-park your car, but in Marc’s case… you just don’t. I also, from a photography aspect love the lines that flow from the back of the car and along the path to the left. I chose black and white to take the attention away from the colour of the scene and more to what is going on in the scene – being the damage to the rear bumper and ‘eccentric’ parking 😉

Picture three

As my final image, I wanted to capture a peaceful mood. As we walked along Bedford Embankment I spotted this couple relaxing in the crisp winter air. I crept behind them and silently began looking through my camera settings to find the right choice. As there was so much contrast in the scene I jumped instinctively towards the black and white film simulations. This is where I broke the rules! I literally couldn’t decide which B&W filter to use, so, I shot the same scene three times (one on each B&W filter). I found that the B&W with red filter gave me the most pleasing tones so this was the keeper, and yes I did admit to Marc that I cheated slightly!

My thoughts

All in all, even though I cheated a bit, it was super exciting & an excellent exercise to undertake – I highly recommend it. It just turned my normal way of shooting on its head. I would normally frame up a shot and take a few images, experimenting with different apertures etc but with this exercise, I just needed to put my knowledge to the test. I looked through my camera menu selecting specific settings that would suit my style and thought much harder about the composition to ensure it was just the way I wanted it, first time.

It also made me connect more with the environment we were in, internal thoughts like “Where is the best light coming from?”, “What angle should I take this from?” & most importantly “What is actually interesting to shoot in my current area?”.

At one point I actually went right under the bridge to look for a new viewpoint, got my knees dirty, banged my head and came back out without an image! But this was worth it, for I knew that the shot I wanted, wasn’t there. My advice is to try strange angles & odd perspectives, this way you’re either eliminating bad shots or discovering great, new shots that you wouldn’t have known about before.

Happy Snapping! 🙂